Thai-Style Pork with Pineapple

A while ago, I reviewed the commercially prepared Jack Hua Brand Sour Shrimp Paste from Thailand. The culinary paste is primarily intended for making the perennial Thai restaurant favorite Tom Yum Soup, but I rarely use it that way and instead find it useful as a base for curries, or stir-fried dishes. Here, I have used the paste along with Pork and Pineapple in order to make a dish that is both sweet, sour, and pungent with the flavorings associated with a Thai Yellow Curry.

The Basic Method

Pre-frying the Pork

Deep-frying meat before using it in stir-fried dishes is a common technique in Chinese and South-East Asian cookery. It allows the meat to caramelize slightly and develop additional flavor while remaining tender at the center, and it helps reduce the final cooking time. Here, the meat is first seasoned lightly and coated with flour before being quickly fried in a cup or so of oil over moderately high heat.

Pre-frying the Pineapple

Frying pineapple before using it in this type of dish is a little unorthodox, but, as with the meat, the slight browning adds an additional flavor dimension. The pineapple, like the meat, also gets tossed in flour before frying, which gives it a slight crust.

Frying the Spice Paste with Red Bell Pepper

Sweet Red Pepper is the only other major ingredient in this recipe. The pieces get quickly fried along with the spice paste and a little sugar. This brand of Tom Yum Paste has only a little chili in it so, if you want this to be a more fiery dish, you may wish to add another chili source, such as a Sambal Oelek.

Finishing the Thai-Style Pork with Pineapple

The final step requires only that the pork and pineapple are added and cooked long enough to be heated through. It needs to be served immediately and will go well with any rice or noodle accompaniment.